Maternal near miss and maternal mortality and their determinants among pregnant women at a rural tertiary centre in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa: A cross-sectional study

Background. Maternal near miss (MNM) is a significant entity in the assessment of the quality of obstetric care, particularly at institutional level. It renders possible the assessment of events surrounding a woman surviving what would otherwise have been a fatal outcome during childbirth or within 42 days post termination of pregnancy. The World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a tool that eases the identification of such cases and the interventions that were offered during their care. There have been several assessments of maternal deaths within South Africa (SA), but no audit of maternal near-miss cases has been carried out in rural Eastern Cape Province. Objectives. To establish the period prevalence of MNM and mortality index, and to compare near-miss cases with maternal mortality and to identify their risk factors and causes. Methods. A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, a rural tertiary hospital in the Eastern Cape Province, over a 6-month period between January 2019 and June 2019. All cases that met the WHO criteria for MNM, together with maternal mortality cases, were identified and included in the study. Results. There was a total of 1 706 live births, 228 maternal near-miss cases and 24 maternal death cases. The institutional severe maternal outcome ratio was 147/1 000 live births, with an overall mortality index of 9.5%. The MNM ratio (MNMR) was 133.6/1 000 live births, the maternal mortality ratio was 1 406.8/100 000 live births and the MNM/maternal mortality ratio (MNMR/MMR) was 9.5:1. The stillbirth rate was found to be 95.0/1 000 births. The leading causes of MNM were eclampsia (47.8%), abruptio placentae (19.7%) and postpartum haemorrhage (8.3%), and the leading causes of maternal death were eclampsia (29.2%), puerperal sepsis (25%) and postpartum haemorrhage (12.5%). Conclusion. The MNMR and the MMR found in this study were comparable with other reports from sub-Saharan Africa, although these ratios were notably higher than in urban areas within SA. The conditions that resulted in the highest fatality rate were potentially preventable, namely eclampsia and puerperal sepsis. Many patients with life-threatening conditions were low-risk patients, and this emphasises the need for more vigilant surveillance of patients during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods

Nanomotion technology in combination with machine learning: a new approach for a rapid antibiotic susceptibility test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Nanomotion technology is a growth-independent approach that can be used to detect and record the vibrations of bacteria attached to cantilevers. We have developed a nanomotion-based antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) protocol for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The protocol was used to predict strain phenotype towards isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF) using a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and machine learning techniques. This MTB-nanomotion protocol takes 21 h, including cell suspension preparation, optimized bacterial attachment to functionalized cantilever, and nanomotion recording before and after antibiotic exposure. We applied this protocol to MTB isolates (n = 40) and were able to discriminate between susceptible and resistant strains for INH and RIF with a maximum sensitivity of 97.4% and 100%, respectively, and a maximum specificity of 100% for both antibiotics when considering each nanomotion recording to be a distinct experiment. Grouping recordings as triplicates based on source isolate improved sensitivity and specificity to 100% for both antibiotics. Nanomotion technology can potentially reduce time-to-result significantly compared to the days and weeks currently needed for current phenotypic ASTs for MTB. It can further be extended to other anti-TB drugs to help guide more effective TB treatment

СОВРЕМЕННАЯ СТРУКТУРА КОМПЛЕКСА ЧУЖЕРОДНЫХ ВИДОВ СОСУЩИХ ЧЛЕНИСТОНОГИХ-ФИТОФАГОВ ФАУНЫ БЕЛАРУСИ

At present, the complex of alien species of sucking phythophagous arthropods in the fauna of Belarus includes 61 species of insects and mates from 35 genera, 12 families and 4 orders. The majority of them have the European (19 species) origin, and а smaller number is due to the Mediterranean (12), North American (11) origin. Seven invasive species are cryptogenic.К настоящему времени комплекс чужеродных видов сосущих членистоногих-фитофагов фауны Беларуси включает 61 вид насекомых и клещей из 35 родов, 12 семейств и 4 отрядов. Установлены основные регионы-доноры инвазивных видов сосущих членистоногих-фитофагов, которыми являются страны Южной, Западной и Северной Европы (19), меньшее число происходит из Средиземноморья (12), Северной Америки (11) и Центральной Азии (7); дальневосточное происхождение имеет лишь 2 вида инвайдеров. К числу криптогенных отнесено 7 видов сосущих насекомых и клещей, чужеродных для фауны Беларуси

СЕПТОРИОЗЫ ЗЕРНОВЫХ КУЛЬТУР И ИХ ВРЕДОНОСНОСТЬ

Nowadays septoria has become widespread in many countries of the world, including in the Republic of Belarus, in winter and spring wheat crops and winter triticale. Septoria of cereal crops is caused by several types of pathogens: on leaves in the crops of studied cultures this disease is caused mainly by fungus Septoria tritici Desm., and since paniculation phase – Stagonospora nodorum (Berk.) E. Castell. & Germano. Development of leaves septoria depends on hydrothermal conditions of growing season and varietal characteristics. Analysis of cereal crops damage by septoria over the last 20 years indicates significant changes in phytopathological state of crops. For instance, in winter and spring wheat crops, the development of a complex of diseases of the leaf apparatus, with the dominance of septoria, reached its maximum in the vegetation seasons of 2006–2010 compared with those of other five-year periods, when the average index of disease development reached 34.3 % with deviations from 22.4 to 55.9 % and 40.9 % with fluctuations from 31.0 to 75.1 %, respectively. In recent years (2011–2015), the development of the disease in the crops of these crops has decreased to 15.7 % (4.3–40.5 %) and 32.2 % (0.2–73.0 %). There was a higher damage degree of leaves with a complex of diseases in winter triticale crop (38.8 %) was recorded in conditions of 2001–2005 at fluctuation of this indicator within the range of 14.9–72.5 %, whereas in 1996–2000 (the lowest development) on average 11.3 % with deviations from 1.6 to 20.0 %. There is a tendency to damage degree reduction in winter wheat septoria development from 36.7 % (2001–2005) to 19.7 % (2011–2015), in winter triticale on the contrary, growth in these periods from 26.3 to 36.3 %. Head of spring wheat was more intensively damaged by septoria during all the years of observations – 34.8 % in 2001–2005, 62.3 % in 2006–2010, and 44.7 % in 2011–2015.В настоящее время во многих странах мира, в том числе и в Республике Беларусь, в посевах озимой и яровой пшеницы, озимого тритикале получил широкое распространение септориоз. Септориоз зерновых культур вызывается несколькими видами возбудителей: на листьях в посевах изучаемых культур болезнь вызывает в основном гриб Septoria tritici Desm., а начиная с фазы колошения – Stagonospora nodorum (Berk.) E. Castell. & Germano. Развитие септориоза листьев зависит от гидротермических условий вегетационного сезона и сортовых особенностей. Анализ поражаемости зерновых культур септориозом за последние 20 лет свидетельствует о существенных изменениях в формировании фитопатологического состояния посевов. Например, в посевах озимой и яровой пшеницы развитие комплекса болезней листового аппарата, при доминировании септориоза, достигало максимума в вегетационные сезоны 2006–2010 гг. по сравнению с таковыми других пятилеток, когда средний индекс развития болезней достигал 34,3 % с отклонениями от 22,4 до 55,9 % и 40,9 % с колебаниями от 31,0 до 75,1 % соответственно. В последние годы (2011–2015 гг.) развитие болезни в посевах этих культур понизилось до 15,7 % (4,3–40,5 %) и 32,2 % (0,2–73,0 %). В посевах озимого тритикале более высокая степень поражения листьев комплексом болезней (38,8 %) отмечалась в условиях 2001–2005 гг. при колебании этого показателя в пределах 14,9–72,5 %, тогда как в 1996–2000 гг. (самое низкое развитие) в среднем 11,3 % с отклонениями от 1,6 до 20,0 %. В развитии септориоза колоса озимой пшеницы наблюдается тенденция снижения степени поражения с 36,7 % (2001–2005 гг.) до 19,7 % (2011–2015 гг.), озимого тритикале, наоборот, роста в эти периоды от 26,3 до 36,3 %. Колос яровой пшеницы интенсивнее поражался во все годы наблюдений септориозом: в 2001–2005 гг. – 34,8 %, 2006– 2010 гг. – 62,3 %, 2011–2015 гг. – 44,7 %.

Use of near-infrared light to reduce symptoms associated with restless legs syndrome in a woman: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>We describe a potential new treatment option for patients suffering from restless legs syndrome. Contemporary treatment for restless legs syndrome consists mostly of dopaminergic drugs that leave some patients feeling nauseated and dizzy. A non-invasive, drug-free option would open new doors for patients suffering from restless legs syndrome.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 69-year-old Caucasian woman met International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria for the diagnosis of restless legs syndrome. She had been afflicted with restless legs syndrome for over 30 years and tried many of the available pharmaceutical remedies without success. For this study she received 30-minute treatment sessions with near-infrared light, three times a week for four weeks. The restless legs syndrome rating scale was used to track symptom changes; at baseline she scored "27" on the 0 to 40 point scale, which is considered to be "severe". Our patient was almost symptom free at week two, indicated by a score of "2" on the rating scale. By week four she was completely symptom free. The symptoms slowly returned during week three post treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings suggest that near-infrared light may be a feasible method for treating patients suffering from restless legs syndrome. Undesirable side-effects from medication are non-existent. This study might revive the neglected vascular mechanism theory behind restless legs syndrome and encourage further research into this area.</p

Repeated PTZ Treatment at 25-Day Intervals Leads to a Highly Efficient Accumulation of Doublecortin in the Dorsal Hippocampus of Rats

BACKGROUND: Neurogenesis persists throughout life in the adult mammalian brain. Because neurogenesis can only be assessed in postmortem tissue, its functional significance remains undetermined, and identifying an in vivo correlate of neurogenesis has become an important goal. By studying pentylenetetrazole-induced brain stimulation in a rat model of kindling we accidentally discovered that 25±1 days periodic stimulation of Sprague-Dawley rats led to a highly efficient increase in seizure susceptibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By EEG, RT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry, we show that repeated convulsive seizures with a periodicity of 25±1 days led to an enrichment of newly generated neurons, that were BrdU-positive in the dentate gyrus at day 25±1 post-seizure. At the same time, there was a massive increase in the number of neurons expressing the migratory marker, doublecortin, at the boundary between the granule cell layer and the polymorphic layer in the dorsal hippocampus. Some of these migrating neurons were also positive for NeuN, a marker for adult neurons. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that the increased susceptibility to seizure at day 25±1 post-treatment is coincident with a critical time required for newborn neurons to differentiate and integrate into the existing hippocampal network, and outlines the importance of the dorsal hippocampus for seizure-related neurogenesis. This model can be used as an in vivo correlate of neurogenesis to study basic questions related to neurogenesis and to the neurogenic mechanisms that contribute to the development of epilepsy